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The differences between law clerks and contractor-paralegals can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a contractor-paralegal has an average salary of $60,686, which is higher than the $55,916 average annual salary of a law clerk.
The top three skills for a law clerk include litigation, legal issues and legal memos. The most important skills for a contractor-paralegal are litigation, legal research, and discovery responses.
| Law Clerk | Contractor-Paralegal | |
| Yearly salary | $55,916 | $60,686 |
| Hourly rate | $26.88 | $29.18 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 14% |
| Number of jobs | 75,014 | 15,609 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 53% |
| Average age | 41 | 46 |
| Years of experience | - | 12 |
Law clerks are employees in a legal firm who handle clerical tasks for the office. They handle the office's official phone lines, answering incoming calls, and making outgoing calls. They also field office correspondence, often receiving incoming mail and distributing them to their addressees. They manage office documents and ensure that they are correctly filed and labeled in their respective storage bins. Law clerks help make office life more comfortable because they make sure that the office is running well. They also manage appointments and office calendars.
A Contractor-Paralegal works for a law firm or corporate legal department for a specified amount of time, or for a specified task. They can be specialized in the entertainment industry or in providing services to healthcare companies and insurance providers.
Law clerks and contractor-paralegals have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Law Clerk | Contractor-Paralegal | |
| Average salary | $55,916 | $60,686 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $114,000 | Between $37,000 And $99,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Camarillo, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | California |
| Best paying company | Hughes Hubbard & Reed | SeaSpine |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Finance |
There are a few differences between a law clerk and a contractor-paralegal in terms of educational background:
| Law Clerk | Contractor-Paralegal | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 53% |
| Most common major | Law | Legal Support Services |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Harvard University |
Here are the differences between law clerks' and contractor-paralegals' demographics:
| Law Clerk | Contractor-Paralegal | |
| Average age | 41 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 52.5% Female, 47.5% | Male, 26.8% Female, 73.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 8.3% Hispanic or Latino, 17.8% Asian, 10.3% White, 53.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 19.1% Asian, 5.8% White, 60.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 13% | 9% |